You always need to be very prudent when entering into a cloud or any outsourcing agreements.

What would concern me even more were the long term implications, when the contract run for x years and then has to be renegotiated.Or if you decide to bring the system back on premise how difficult and expensive will that be.

--Jeff ModenRBAR is pronounced ree-bar and is a Modenism for Row-By-Agonizing-Row.First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code: Stop thinking about what you want to do to a row... think, instead, of what you want to do to a column.If you think its expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur. -- Red Adair

The larger your commitment to a given vendor, the greater is your capability to negotiate away from vendor standard T&Cs. This applies even with the largest cloud vendors.

There are some consultancies who specialise in assisting organisations get the best possible terms from major cloud vendors. If you are making a strategic investment with a cloud vendor, it is worth getting one of these consultancies involved.

Make sure you know what your priorities are, and the implications of not getting everything you might want. All contracts are little more than a series of commitments and compromises, and there is no reason for a contract with a cloud vendor to be any different.

Original author: SQL Server FineBuild1-click install and best practice configuration of SQL Server 2017 2016, 2014, 2012, 2008 R2, 2008 and 2005.14 Mar 2017: now over 40,000 downloads.Disclaimer: All information provided is a personal opinion that may not match reality.Quote: When I give food to the poor they call me a saint. When I ask why they are poor they call me a communist. - Archbishop Hélder Câmara